The Carver County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public of scams involving prepaid cards. Sheriff Jim Olson says scammers are tricking people into using Green Dot MoneyPak cards to pay shipping fees for phony rewards; to pay off nonexistent fines; to pay past-due utility bills with the threat of service disruption; to pay for computer virus removal and to seek money to pay a relative’s bail.

Seniors across the country are being scammed out of $2.5 billion a year, but Minnesota is leading the way in the fight against this troubling epidemic. Minnesota is the first in the country to provide guidance to banks and credit unions with spotting and reporting fraud without penalties.

Target says it has learned of some incidents of scam emails related to its recent data breach and is setting up a section of its corporate website to post copies of all official communication. The company says it is aware of “limited instances” of scam emails. Spokeswoman Molly Snyder says the company doesn’t have any other specifics to provide about the fake emails.

When big name artists are in town, the scam artists are never too far behind. The boy band One Direction will be at Target Center July 18, and one mother from River Falls hopes to save others from the scam she fell victim to, trying to buy tickets to the sold out show.

The trouble started for Frost Simula just days after he moved into a home in Columbia Heights. Now, he’s on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars. At first, his 2,100 square foot home in Columbia Heights seemed brand-new, but a trail of post-it notes from the last few weeks explains why. He’s found 51 problems with the house.